Silver pleads not guilty as lawyer blames Bharara

Former Assembly speaker Sheldon Silver pleaded not guilty to three felony counts during his arraignment hearing in federal district court on Tuesday.

Lawyers for Silver said they plan to file motions requesting the indictment be dismissed.

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Steven Molo, Silver’s lead attorney, questioned how news of Silver’s impending arrest leaked to the news media before the complaint was unsealed, calling the case a “media firestorm.”

“The U.S. Attorney excoriated the defendant and deprived him of innocence while the grand jury was proceeding,” Molo said, calling U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara’s public comments “premeditated and orchestrated.”

Silver was indicted by a grand jury last week on three counts, after having been arrested in late January and charged with five counts of federal corruption.

Government lawyers, led by Carrie Heather Cohen, argued that the office’s conduct was standard for high-profile cases, and that there “was certainly no prejudice in the grand jury proceedings.”

Dozens of reporters surrounded Silver as he arrived for the hearing at the federal courthouse in Lower Manhattan, wearing a dark suit and his signature fedora.

During the hearing, Judge Valerie Caproni instructed the lawyers for both parties to agree on prospective dates for the trial.

Government lawyers were instructed to reply to the motions filed by Silver’s legal team by March 6. Motions will likely be done by the time of a scheduled May 7 conference, when a final trial date will be decided. Silver waived his right to appear at the hearing.

The government lawyers announced their willingness to agree to a trial date at the start of June, but Molo’s travel schedule, along with Silver’s observance of the Jewish holidays, will likely push proceedings back to November.